I think by now, we’ve all pledged some kind of resolution for the new year that includes food. Maybe you’re going to eat less or “eat clean.” Someone asked me recently what eating clean meant to me and I’ve been thinking a lot about my interpretation. I do think it’s subject to interpretation so here’s mine: eating clean to me means eating whole foods and avoiding highly processed foods. It means buying quality instead of quantity and being a conscientious consumer about hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides in the food I buy. Eating clean to me means slow food, not fast food and translates into home cooking often. It means being concerned not just about the food I feed myself and my family, but the humane treatment of animals, fair wages and support for farm workers, and environmental impacts.

That said, my focus for the new year is going to be on food sustainability. I’m going to be more committed to buying local, organic produce and using the food we do grow, in new ways. We aren’t farmers over here, mind you. We have fruit and citrus trees and I grow my own herbs. But it’s a start and we all have to start somewhere.

With this in mind, our Satsuma tangerine tree has exploded and I needed a recipe to incorporate some of the harvest. We aren’t big beef eaters, but tangerine beef from the local takeout is always a hit. This is another of those 2 day recipes: I marinated the flank steak in the tangerine juice for 24 hours. I’m not sure there is even canned or bottled tangerine juice, so it goes without saying that the tangerine juice must be freshly squeezed…

I recruited the help of my fourteen year-old Conor to help me squeeze about 1 1/4 cup of tangerine juice.

Marinate 1.5 lbs thinly sliced flank steak overnight in 3/4 cup of the tangerine juice and chopped green onions.
I made the the tangerine sauce as well the night before:

The next day, slice the marinated flank steak into 1 inch strips. Heat a cast iron skillet or wok with 1/4 cup garlic oil or EVOO until hot. Sauté the meat until cooked through, about 7 minutes.
Add 4-5 cups stir fry veggies (I used broccoli, snap peas, and carrots) and sauté briefly. Cover the skillet or wok and let vegetables steam about 2 minutes. Add the sauce, stirring into meat and vegetables and cover again until sauce thickens, about 2-3 more minutes. Remove from heat and top with 1/4 cup roasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions.

I served mine over Japanese Udon noodles, but you could serve over Jasmine rice or brown rice. Serve with sections of fresh tangerines 🍊🌿